Proverbs 1:20-21

THE EXHORTATION, INVITATION, AND WARNINGS OF WISDOM, Proverbs 1:20-33.

20, 21. Having thus admonished his pupil of the dangers of yielding to the seducing invitations of rapacious and violent men, and shown him the wickedness, folly, and fearful results of such a course of life, he now exhorts him, on the other hand, to listen to the voice of WISDOM, which he personifies and represents as crying earnestly and persistently in his ears, pressing upon him her counsels, and urging her admonitions.

Wisdom crieth without חכמות , ( hhokmoth,) a plural, but with a verb singular, a poetic form, perhaps, but one by which the Hebrews sometimes expressed the greatness or excellence of a thing, or gave intensity to the subject: (so with the name Elohim, (God,) which is commonly thus used; as much as to say:) The voices of Wisdom are heard all abroad, but especially in the crowded marts of men, in the streets, in the public squares, or in the openings, or spaces about the gates, which were great places of concourse and of business; the courts were also held there.

In the city In every part of it.

She uttereth her words Among all classes of men. You need not ask, Where shall I find Wisdom? Open your eyes and see her, your ears and hear her. She is preaching aloud all the time, from every text. the wisdom of the wise, the folly of fools, the righteousness of the righteous, and the wickedness of the wicked; from the character and conduct of all sorts of men, and from the consequence of their actions. Hear, see, and profit by all you meet with amid the busy, bustling throngs. Be taught even by the follies of mankind, for wise men learn more from fools than fools learn from the wise.